Life of Jesus - Week 5

Matthew 5:3–12 NIV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus was reminding people about God’s real priorities

I’ve heard it said - and i’ve said it - that God brings an upside-down kingdom. But a commentary I read pointed out something interesting - we’re the ones who are upside-down

We reward bad and push down good.

And we tell God he’s the upside-down one.

FIRST POINT -------------------------------

These were God’s priorities in the Old Testament

STORY - I’ve worked with people literally for decades now. And I’ve had time after time after time where someone’s come to me with something, and I’ve said, no, if you go down that path, you’re in for pain. And they do it. And they come back, and they’re like OH I WISH SOMEBODY TOLD ME. I DID!

I wonder through how many generations the Lord sat up in heaven thinking, man, you guys just aren’t listening, you aren’t getting it!

The SotM is practically quoting several portions of the OT.

Psalm 37:11 NIV

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Isaiah 61:1–2 NIV

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

Psalm 24:3–4 NIV

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

We think Jesus was bringing something radical. And he was.

But not something new.

I have a pretty sarcastic character, and sometimes I read that into Jesus and I know I shouldn’t. But i know if *I* was there, and a jewish person who knew the law and the prophets was like ‘Oh Rabbi, you’re bringing this brand new teaching that NOBODY’S ever heard before!’ - you’d be able to hear me rolling my eyes.

God has been shouting grace and salvation at the world since the first sin.

SECOND POINT -------------------------------

God’s priorities work against our measures of success

Through the rest of the SotM, Jesus blasts the religious elite and the jewish leaders who were trying to force their way into holiness.

But beyond that - they also speak against our human ideas of success.

What makes a person ‘successful’?

Would we say - Someone who is ‘poor in spirit’? Someone who is meek? Someone in mourning? Someone who is persecuted?

But Jesus’ measure of success is THE most important one. Later in the SotM, he says:

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

These people have a standard of success in their own eyes.

Now can you imagine, trying to argue with Jesus?

So for anything we can gain in terms of success here - we could miss eternity with Jesus.

This is THE most important conversation we can have. ‘Am I going to be with Jesus?’

Learn the process of self-denial

Romans 8:7–8 NIV

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

We think and act like the problem is something outside of us. But the problem IS us.

The bible teaches that’s it’s our natural selves that lead us away from God.

For sure there’s an enemy trying to lure us away. But we’re also our worst enemies on top of that.

And this is a really funny one - because the answer isn’t ‘try harder’ or ‘do more’.

We’d actually prefer that one sometimes. Give me the standard so that I can work REALLY HARD to make it there.

But Jesus’ very first step is self denial. Pick up your cross. Die to yourself. Live for me instead.

Because he’s trying to save us from the real problem. We think the problem is, we’ve done a bit more bad than good, and we just need to tip the scale. But we’re upside down.

Something world-shakingly, universe alteringly bad happened in the fall. Something every last human being is affected by even today, and will be up until the very day that Jesus comes back to earth. It’s not a little problem that we can work our way out of. It’s the end of the world and we are facing death.

But thank the Lord we serve the God who conquered death.

Jesus calls us to a whole-life, self denial. Jesus once went so far as to say, those people who don’t hate their lives cannot be His disciples.

We don’t do this by simply hating ourselves and everything about ourselves. We start this by saying - Not My will but Yours Be done. And then actually living by that.

Luke 14:26 NIV

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

But read the chapter. BEFORE that line - Jesus tells two parables (taking the best seat of honor at a banquet, and the parable of the great banquet where people refused to come). Two parables AGAINST the kinds of things people value more than the kingdom.

Then after that he tells some of his most famous parables - the lost sheep, lost coin, lost son.

He’s begging us - don’t love this world. Love the things that God loves.

This has to be more than a simple ideal that we accept. We can’t say, ya, I know I can’t be on the throne - while we slowly crawl our way up there.

Self denial is active. It’s in being able to say, I know that what I need to do right now is put myself aside.

learn the process of self-denial.

When you feel that pull towards reliance on a thing in this world - wealth, stuff, recognition. Actively work against it. Give that thing up. Move away from it. Give it over to God.

The more things you say no to so that you can say yes to Jesus - the more you’ll see and experience Jesus.

THIRD POINT -------------------------------

God’s priorities are about blessing those who need Him

Each one of the beatitudes is in some fashion a blessing for those who are missing out here.

Poor in spirit / mourn / meek / pure in heart

Even showing mercy / peace making / undergoing persecution - these people are going through something!

And in many ways, we’d be quick to say, these people may even be judged by God. Certainly, in society, even in church society, we look down in general on these people.

Preachers and their expressiveness. (EXAMPLE - BOLD PREACHER WHO SPEAKS FIRE AGAINST THE SINS OF THE NATION - vs the meek, poor in spirit preacher, who preaches mercy and peacemaking)

I’m not making fun of those kinds of preachers. The problem isn’t them, it’s us. It’s when we say, oh obviously THAT guy is blessed by the Lord, but look at this other guy? He obviously doesn’t have the Spirit.

I’ve met plenty of those bold, fiery preachers, and they can see and feel the spirit just as much in that meek person as in themselves. Many I know would actually be grieved at this idea that we may think they’re more powerful or more blessed by the Lord than the other guy.

Because they know the secret - that we can never, ever do it by ourselves, and that we have nothing without the Lord. They know humility, and that anything they have or anything they can do is all the Lord.

BUT - there’s a flipside to this. And it’s this - how hard it can be on us who HAVE.

It’s REALLY obvious in Luke 6, which records the second part of the beatitudes:

Luke 6:24–26 NIV

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

This sounds like virtue signalling. ‘Oh, look at how hard I have it, with money, and good public opinion, etc’.

But jesus genuinely says, to the person who’s already received so much in this life - that’s not a blessing, that’s a woe. That’s something over which to express great sorrow or distress.

Jesus’ point isn’t that stuff, or happiness, or anything is bad. His point is this:

Don’t settle for anything in this world

The problem is - the wealth we see, and pursue, and are happy to receive - it’s not only false and temporary, it’s lethal.

the praise of men is fleeting, often based on false pretenses

Wealth will fade

And while we amass riches here, spiritually and eternally we are bankrupt.

Notice how Jesus frames it. He doesn’t say, wealth is awful, so you’re bad if you have it. He says - woe to the rich because they’ve already received their comfort. Woe to the fed now, because they’ll go hungry later. Woe to those who laugh now, because they’ll mourn later.

What happens is, these people, they receive wealth, or happiness, or food in this life and then they kick up their feet and say, AH - I’ve got everything I need now, i’m good.

STORY - Going on a sushi date with my wife. The food is great. But it’s the sidebar. The prize is time with my wife. There’s not going to be a time where i’ll say, no, it’s not worth the time with my wife unless I can get a good steak out of the deal.

Jesus says, blessed are those people who, whether fed or hungry, poor or rich, stop and say,

Jesus is the only thing that I need right now

And I refuse to be filled by bread alone, but rather by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Revelation 3:17–18 NIV

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

This goes back to our second point - that our priorities are upside-down compared to God’s. And that the things we look at in our lives that say man, i’m doing well, look at me. Jesus says, you’re actually pitiful and poor right now.

The true wealth in life is knowing what the true wealth in life is.

I have known godly christians who have had stuff. and not had stuff. I’ve seen them rich and poor. And what sets apart the godly from the ungodly - is that their stuff (or lack of stuff) is a blip on the radar. It’s a hurdle to be overcome - but the race has already been won, and they’re there to celebrate.

Paul puts it really well:

Philippians 3:8 NIV

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

Learn how to be able to say, whatever I have now is rags compared to simply knowing Jesus.

Invite to place Jesus above all things in our lives.

The Beatitudes - General Notes

God isn’t presenting an upside-down kingdom. He’s showing us how our current perspective is upside-down in his eyes.

The beatitudes don’t speak to our natural human aspirations. Who wants to be meek, poor, or in mourning?

The Beatitudes, and the SotM as a whole, was an indictment about the religious establishment’s way of doing things and seeing things

They speak against the kind of religiousity that the jewish leaders at the time were employing to try and force their way into holiness

‘Blessing’ doesn’t mean we’ve prospered in our own eyes, or that we even necessarily are happy or are experiencing good fortune - it means that by God’s perspective, we are blessed.

The blessings from the beatitudes are the blessing of the convicting and renewing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives

The beatitudes are not a means of entering or advancing the kingdom - they are the expressions of Spirit-produced kingdom life

The first and last blessings - ‘for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ - is present tense (versus the others in future tense) which tells us that it’s a present reality. The others are a future hope.

All the beatitudes are about someone being in need

Some are more obvious (the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are persecuted), some are less (the merciful - someone has been wronged. The pure in heart - someone has resisted the temptations of the world. The peacemakers - someone has experienced conflict).

They are a list of people who the world would look at and consider not successful or prosperous

Jesus’ point isn’t that having it good is bad. His point is, settling on the provisions from the world is bad. Even the richest person here is poor compared to what God intends for each one of us.

Luke’s counterpoints in 6 are woes to those who have already received (Luke 6:24-26)

There’s a logical counterpoint to each one. The person who is in trouble because of pursuing the opposite.

Those who feel themselves spiritually superior and well off - Jesus condemns the pharisees.

Those who seek violence rather than peace or meekness are in for a surprise

Blessed are the poor

Blessed are those who have no resources, material or spiritual, to help themselves before God

Jesus stated that ‘the good news is proclaimed to the poor’ as a victorious statement in Matt 11:5

The predominant worldview was that material or physical blessings were a sign of favour from God

Blessed are those who mourn

This is also a sort of loss. People can mourn loved ones, positions, resources, etc. Even in the context of purely loved ones - it is a loss of something important to the person

Both the poor and the morning were going to experience God’s blessing - ref Isaiah 61:1-3\

Blessed are the meek

We believe that victory and power and resources will be available to those who are forward and demanding and aggressive. But jesus says - it’s the meek who will win the day, and who will inherit the earth

Blessed are the peacemakers

The idea of peace, shalom in hebrew or eirene in greek, fills the whole bible. the bible’s idea of peace is a completeness and wholeness in every area of life

Colossians 1:20 “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness

Jesus demonstrates that the beatitudes are not entrance requirements or requirements for salvation - otherwise, this beatitude could not exist (for we are not righteous outside of salvation)

OT Parallels

Isaiah 61:1–3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

Psalm 37:8–11 “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”

Psalm 24:3–5 “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.”

Proverbs 21:21 “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”